Parking a vehicle, such as between two other vehicles, can be a difficult task for a driver. Autonomous and semi-autonomous parking assistance systems exist which aid the driver in a parking maneuver. Such parking assistance systems detect and indicate obstacles located in front of or behind a vehicle during parking, using proximity sensors mounted at various locations on the vehicle. Some types of parking assistance systems include an imaging device such as a camera that is mounted to a front portion and/or a rear portion of the vehicle. The camera acquires image data that represents a viewable area either in front of or behind the vehicle and this is presented to the driver while within the vehicle. The parking assistance system may then provide feedback to the driver to indicate how to maneuver the vehicle into the parking space.
More recently, self-parking vehicles have become available that are able to autonomously execute a parking operation, albeit with the possibility for driver to supervise, e.g. contribute to control of, the parking operation of the vehicle, such as by halting the parking operation. In some instances, the self-parking operation can be supervised by a driver located outside of the vehicle. The driver may prefer to be outside the vehicle and adjacent the parking space for a better view of the maneuver. Such supervision from outside the vehicle has been performed by feedback to the parking assistance system from a smartphone or from a smart watch. The smartphone or smart watch require specialist equipment to be carried and used by the driver.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and system which allows supervision of a vehicle during a parking operation performed by a parking assistance system from outside of the vehicle. Further, the driver input to (i.e. supervision of) the parking assistance system should be enabled in an intuitive way that does not unnecessarily reduce system processing efficiency.
The present disclosure provides methods, systems and vehicles for achieving one or more of these desires in various embodiments and other related desires in various embodiments. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.